Ten Days of French and American Indies in Manhattan: A Report from the 1998 Avignon/New York Film Fe

Ten Days of French and American Indies in Manhattan: A Report from the 1998 Avignon/New York Film Fe

Ten Days of French and American Indies in Manhattan: AReport from the 1998 Avignon/New York Film Festival

by Leslie Weishaar

With what remained of the cases of champagne, wine and vodka consumedafter 10 days of celebrating two of the most influential filmcommunities in the world, the 4th Avignon/New York Film Festival (A/NY)closed up shop late Sunday night.

Despite the unfortunate glut of four festivals in two weeks this year(which hopefully programmers will adjust for next year), A/NY is one ofthe few venues for non-industry New Yorkers to talk to filmmakersdirectly after every screening (of course, in some cases, knowledge ofFrench is helpful). But for those who don’t parlez, every film, whetherit’s a short or a feature, is followed by a Q & A session between thefilmmakers and the audience, skillfully translated by filmmakerPhillip Bryden (felicitations on his short film, “Le Tocard“). Whereelse in NYC can you get a cocktail party with filmmakers, a short anda feature, all for $8?

With tales of the trenches coming from hardened veterans like PeterBogdanovich and Paul Schrader, and several discussions of Sam Fuller’sill-fated “White Dog” (which seems way too tame to send a man out of thecountry), it’s time for a new tag line, “Banking is easy. Filmmaking ishard.” Curtis Hanson (director of “LA Confidential” and co-writer withSam Fuller of the controversial “White Dog”), wondered why weekend boxoffice receipts so strongly influence people’s choices today, “If I’mnot a producer or an investor, why should I care if a film made $5million or $10 million over the weekend?” But indie filmmakers are moreaware than ever of the need for “star power” to drive their featurestowards distribution and good box office. Surprisingly, the starsappearing in this year’s line-up included: Mira Sorvino, Ben Gazzarra,Takeshi Kaneshiro, Claudia Cardinale, Nick Nolte, Christina Ricci, BruceWillis (upstaged by a dog no less), and Kevin Bacon, Cathy Moriarty andMary Stuart Masterson (but of course Tim Hutton would have some actorfriends).

At the Script, Script, Script panel, moderated by James Ryan, teacher ofthe intensive 3-day Screenwriting from the Heart Seminar, Paul Schrader(whose new film “Affliction” opened the festival, along with WonsukChin’s “Too Tired to Die”) commented that whether the public blamesthe industry for its product, the industry blames the public for itsdemand or the press gets blamed for its undue influence (because peoplewant to be told what they should watch), the truth is, the market is a“four-legged creature,” and it “doesn’t go forward unless all four legsare walking in the same direction.”

Jon Carnoy, one of Avignon’s success stories, made several short films(including the wonderful “Lucas” screened last year) and recently wenton to premiere his new feature, “Mob Queen” at LAIFF. Jon felt it was“much more fun” to be at Avignon/NY because the “pressure was off.” Infact, this is a festival with little or no industry pressure – no repsor distributors ready to sign deals. Head Programmer and festivalfounder, the charismatic Jerry Rudes originally conceived the festivalas an alternative to the commercial frenzy and heirarchy of Cannes,where the work takes a back seat to glamour and star power. It wasconceived as “Rencontres” (translated as “meeting”), a time to hang outand watch films and discuss them in a friendly way over wine and cheese— although next year a little more cheese would be good.

Rudes’s desire to keep things non-competitive is behind his reluctanceto give out awards. But in the spirit of encouraging filmmakers to tryit again (maybe in a few months, once the pain has worn off), thefestival has instituted the 21st Century Filmmaker Awards: $50,000worth of prizes decided by audience ballots. This year, three of thefour director’s prizes were given to women, which is especiallyencouraging after last year’s panel at Cannes on new American directorswas devoid of a single female face (although Barbara Kopple was in theaudience).

This year’s French winners were: “Artemisia,” a beautifully crafted filmby Agnès Merlet to be distributed by Miramax, and “Theo, Are You There?“by Julie Lapinski, a cleverly shot, humorous short about a woman whowinds up at the wrong door.

While “Sous les Pieds des Femmes” (“Under Women’s Feet“) by Rachida Krimdidn’t win an audience award, it deserves commendation for its strongpolitical ambience and directorial restraint. While at least oneaudience member was bothered by its slow, non-linear unfolding whichprovided no big pay-off at the end (“The French need to learn pacingfrom the Americans”), it had a beautiful, ethereal quality greatlyenhanced by the screen presence of its star, Claudia Cardinale.Algerians in the audience attacked the film for inauthenticity but Krimdefended her film on the grounds that she was not trying to make anhistorical document. In any case, due to its political nature alone, itis likely not to get distribution in the U.S., “malheureusement.”

“Tree Shade,” a remarkable debut film by Lisa Collins shot entirely MOS,took the award for best American short. The story of a young, blackwoman trying to find some good in her family’s shady legacy, “TreeShade” celebrates the empowerment of black women (with a little helpfrom Nefertitti). 3-1/2 years in the making, the completion of “TreeShade” is as much a story of triumph over adversity as the film itself,and the film was loved despite production weaknesses and won the prizeover much slicker films.

The charming “Once We Were Strangers” by Emanuele Crialese won for bestAmerican feature. While it offered some refreshing twists on theromantic comedy format, it was also notable for its leading man,Vincenzo Amato, who has so much sex appeal it seems impossible Crialesewas able to find an actress capable of appearing uninterested. Twoother actors with the same magnetic degree of sexuality were theoutstanding Candice Cayne, who provided the sexual energy needed to fuelthe farce behind “Mob Queen,” and Christina Ricci, who used “littlegirl” appeal to enrich the outstandingly sexy short film “Little RedRiding Hood,” shot on 35mm, expertly directed by David Kaplan and thewinner of the Kodak Vision award for best cinematography by ScottRamsey.

While A/NY emphasizes the art of cinema as story-telling, there was someexposure to digital technology. Image Group, one of the sponsors, kepta monitor running in the lobby promoting their digital and DVDproducts. Two popular short films completed post at Cineric (which alsocreated the A/NY and Delta trailer shown before every single film):“Frankie Goes to Hollywood” by Brendan Kelly, shot on high definitionvideo (with a guest appearance by Bruce Willis) and “Ouvre La Fenêtre“by Steve Stein, a clever B&W film shot on 16mm.

Unfortunately the Kodak panel on cinematography steered clear of anyrelevant digital discussion, but the panel on New Media and Cinema(co-sponsored by Harvestworks Digital Media and Film/Video Arts)featured digital artists Zoe Beloff, Toni Dave, Art Jones and TinaLaPorta. Beloff (who recently won first prize in Apple‘s 1998 QuickTimeVR competition), teaches at the Pratt Institute and CCNY. Her recent workwith the Wooster Group can be seen at www.thewoostergroup.org/lights.Canadian Toni Dove presented a video of her amazing interactiveinstallation, Artificial Changelings, which recently premiered at theRotterdam Film Festival. This installation simultaneously responds withsounds and images that change interactively as a person moves throughthree zones in front of the screen. Don’t miss this amazinginstallation if it comes to your city, but over the internet her workcan be seen at: <www.funnygarbage.com/dove>.

An interesting marriage of technology and road movie, “No Sex LastNight” by Sophie Calle and Greg Shephard explored the limits of bothcinema verité and high-8 shooting. Shephard, whose film has beenplaying in Paris for a year, encouraged filmmakers to “get out and usethe technology.” It will be interesting to see if this film can getU.S. distribution. As one journalist noted, “Who wants to see a filmabout people not having sex?” Apparently the French.

One thing for sure, on the rough road of producing a low-budget indieand bringing it to market, festivals like A/NY provide a respite fromthe relentless trials and heartbreaks. Of course it helps to havegenerous sponsors like Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Wit beer, Grey Goose vodkaand Taittinger champagne. So the next time you hear someone complainingabout the tremendous amount of duplicate product being projectedsimultaneously across the mega distribution chains of America, tell themto support alternative distribution. Support the film festival of yourchoice.

[Leslie Weishaar began working in the cutting room, first on thoseannoying Obsession commercials, and later moving to features as adialogue editor, on such feminist classics as “Class of Nuke ‘Em HighII”. Currently working as a free-lance journalist and screenwriter, herlatest comedy about the adventures of two New York roommates on a tripto Mexico, “South of the Border,” is really an excuse to travel toMexico repeatedly.]